Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Social Structure
Although all sheep are generally considered to be gregarious, there are always
differences among breeds and differences among individuals. Relationships
are generally strongest between animals of the same species, although animals
can learn to have a relationship with animals of other species (for example,
you, your horses or cows, your dogs). Relationships also tend to be strongest
between members of the same breed. Oftentimes, if two distinct breeds are
run in the same large pasture, they'll group together in two distinct fl ocks that
avoid each other's space. Within a fl ock, relationships tend to be strongest
among family units. An older ewe, her children, her children's children, and
so on will behave as a unit.
Like most prey species that join together as a group, a sheep fl ock has a
pecking order, or dominance hierarchy. On pasture, dominant and subordi-
nate relationships don't tend to have much impact on any members of the
fl ock, but they can be important if the sheep are fed in a confi nement system.
Animals at the top of the pecking order will “hog” the feed at a trough, and
animals at the bottom will starve.
Dominant animals are simply the more aggressive members of the group.
This aggressiveness may be the result of age, size, sex, or early experiences.
The dominant ewe within a fl ock will have dominant daughters, but I don't
know if this is as much an inherited trait as a learned position.
Dominance among rams just before and during the breeding season is
easy to observe, as they actively fi ght for the top position in the pecking order.
Rams fi ght by backing up and then, with heads down, charging forward at
a full run to butt heads. This type of fi ghting generally ends when one ram
backs down, but rams can be seriously injured or killed during these fi ghts.
Leader-follower relationships are strong in sheep. Interestingly, the leader
of the fl ock may not be its most dominant member. Because of the stronger
relationships among family members, the oldest ewe with the largest number
of offspring often becomes the leader of the fl ock.
Emotions and Senses
If behavior is thought of as being the way animals react to their environ-
ment, then senses are the tools they use to investigate their environment and
emotions are the outward manifestations of this reaction. Let's talk about
emotions fi rst.
Sheep, like other mammals, are capable of displaying a full array of emo-
tions, from anger to happiness to the most common emotion we humans see
